Synopsis:

Jake thought he was meant to marry Brooklyn, but now she's pregnant, and he had nothing to do with it. Brooklyn can’t bring herself to name the father as she wrestles with questions about what her pregnancy means and how it will affect her relationship with Jake. If Harold Keen, the man who owns the bookstore across from Jake's coffee shop, has anything to do with it, the baby will ruin them both.

I would like to thank Pelican Book Group for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.

Justice is a great debut novel by Emily Conrad. It comes with a hard-hitting message about the dangers of seeking “justice” and not allowing God to be the one to take care of matters for us. The author led me on a path where I wanted “justice” to be served in the same way Jake did.

Jake was a great mix of too-good-to-be-true in the way he cared so deeply for Brooklyn and was so patient and caring towards her and hot-headed and vengeful in the way he wanted to deal with the father of Brooklyn’s baby and with Harold. He was such a great example to the teen boys he worked with of abstinence and living like Jesus up until the events of the story. And yet his heart was not so hard that the lessons the Lord wanted to teach him couldn’t get through.

I really admire the way the author was willing to leave several of the mysteries unsolved in the story. Not for the purpose of setting the scene for a sequel, because this story does stand alone, but because some crimes are just never resolved here on earth.

Though there are some heavy themes, they are handled very well and in such a way as to not make this a dark or violent book. There is just enough detail about what happened to Brooklyn to explain, but not to make it inappropriate.